Skip to main content
Log in

Room temperature deposition of ZnO and Al:ZnO ultrathin films on glass and PET substrates by DC sputtering technique

  • Published:
Optical and Quantum Electronics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In the present work, ultrathin films of Zinc oxide (ZnO) and Aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) with 20 nm thick were fabricated at 300 K on glass and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates by means of direct-current sputtering method. The structural morphology of the films were analyzed by (XRD) diffractometry. The average transmittance of films deposited on different substrates showed high transparency (over 80%) in the visible spectrum. The objective of the present work is to investigate the thicknesses and optical constants of ZnO and AZO ultrathin films prepared by DC sputtering onto (glass and PET) substrates using two methods (UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometer and ellipsometer (SE) by new amorphous dispersion formula) with comparison to check and confirm the results that obtained from UV with those obtained from SE measurements. The optical constants of films were extracted and compared using UV and SE techniques in the range of (200–2200 nm) with increment of 1 nm in order to confirm the accuracy of the UV and shown an excellent agreement.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Azzam, R.M.A., et al.: Ellipsometry and polarized light. North-Holland, Amsterdam (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  • El Manouni, A., et al.: Effect of aluminium doping on zinc oxide thin films grown by spray pyrolysis. Superlattices Microstruct. 39(1), 185–192 (2006)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Forouhi, A.R., et al.: Optical dispersion relations for amorphous semiconductors and amorphous dielectrics. Phys. Rev. B 34(10), 7018–7026 (1986)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Forouhi, A.R., et al.: Optical properties of crystalline semiconductors and dielectrics. Phys. Rev. B 38(3), 1865–1874 (1988)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hagendorfer, H., et al.: Highly transparent and conductive ZnO: Al thin films from a low temperature aqueous solution approach. Adv. Mater. 26(4), 632–636 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasnidawani, J.N., et al.: Synthesis of ZnO nanostructures using sol-gel method. Proc. Chem. 19, 211–216 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • HORIBA Jobin Yvon. Spectroscopic ellipsometry user guide. France, pp. 122, 196 (2005)

  • Jellison Jr., G.E., et al.: Parameterization of the optical functions of amorphous materials in the interband region. Appl. Phys. Lett. 69(3), 371–373 (1996)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Jeong, S.H., et al.: Al-ZnO thin films as transparent conductive oxides: synthesis, characterization, and application tests. J Korean Phys. Soc. 50(3), 622–625 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kluth, O., et al.: Modified thornton model for magnetron sputtered zinc oxide: film structure and etching behaviour. Thin Solid Films 442(1), 80–85 (2003)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, T.-H., et al.: ZnO and conjugated polymer bulk heterojunction solar cells containing ZnO nanorod photoanode. Nanotechnology 22(28), 285401–285406 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, X.-Y., et al.: Effect of substrate temperature on the structural and optical properties of ZnO and Al-doped ZnO thin films prepared by dc magnetron sputtering. Optics Commun. 282(2), 247–252 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Ma, J., et al.: Comparison of the electrical and optical properties for SnO2:Sb films deposited on polyimide and glass substrates. Appl. Surf. Sci. 214(1), 208–213 (2003)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Mang, A., et al.: Band gaps, crystal-field splitting, spin-orbit coupling, and exciton binding energies in ZnO under hydrostatic pressure. Solid State Commun. 94(4), 251–254 (1995)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Messaoudi, O., et al.: Correlation between optical and structural properties of copper oxide electrodeposited on ITO glass. J. Alloys Compd. 611, 142–148 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minami, T.: Transparent conducting oxide semiconductors for transparent electrodes. Semicond. Sci. Technol. 20(4), S35–S44 (2005)

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Nishino, J., et al.: Preparation of aluminum-doped zinc oxide films by a normal-pressure CVD method. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 75(12), 3469–3472 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palik, E.D.: Handbook of optical constants of solids, Chap. 7, vol. 3. Academic, Orlando (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  • Tauc, J., Grigorovici, R., et al.: Optical properties and electronic structure of amorphous germanium. Phys. Status Solidi (b) 15(2), 627–637 (1966)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, F.-H., et al.: Effects of H2 plasma treatment on properties of ZnO: Al thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering. Surf. Coat. Technol. 205(23), 5269–5277 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zang, Z., et al.: Single cuprous oxide films synthesized by radical oxidation at low temperature for PV application. Opt. Express 21(9), 11448–11456 (2013)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Zang, Z., et al.: Strong yellow emission of ZnO hollow nanospheres fabricated using polystyrene spheres as templates. Mater. Des. 84, 418–421 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zang, Z., et al.: Femtosecond laser direct writing of microholes on roughened ZnO for output power enhancement of InGaN light-emitting diodes. Opt. Lett. 41(15), 3463–3466 (2016)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Q., et al.: ZnO nanostructures for dye sensitized solar cells. Adv. Mater. 21(41), 4087–4108 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ziang, X., et al.: Refractive index and extinction coefficient of CH3NH3 PbI3 studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry. Opt. Mater. Express 5(1), 29–43 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to Nicolas Mercier, Magali Allain for providing the necessary facilities for XRD studies, Also, to Jean-Paul Gaston and Celine Eypert from Jobin–Yvon Horiba Company for the spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements and to Cecile Mézière, Valerie BONNIN for help with the chemicals and corresponding equipment.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammed Rasheed.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rasheed, M., Barillé, R. Room temperature deposition of ZnO and Al:ZnO ultrathin films on glass and PET substrates by DC sputtering technique. Opt Quant Electron 49, 190 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-017-1030-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-017-1030-7

Keywords

Navigation